I am delighted to have long-time Pars fan, Sammer, as guest writer on Throwback for 6 weeks, during which he will give his own first-hand account of games he attended from the period 1964 to 1973. Here, in part 4, he looks back on a Pars v Celtic game from September 1969.

You sometimes see them push their glasses up on the bridge of their nose, those socialhistorians from Oxbridge who were born yesterday, and pronounce that the Swinging Sixtiesactually started in 1963, with the scandalous Profumo Affair and only really ended with theOil Price Rise of 1973.We know better. They started when Jock Stein arrived in March 1960 and won his first game,against Celtic, 3-2. They ended in January 1970, almost exactly a decade later, when the Pars won 3-2 against Anderlecht but left the main stage.This was a mild, autumn afternoon and East End Park was buzzing. Nowadays I hear somefans say they want the Old Firm to get out of Scottish football and leave us in peace. I have no desire to be left in peace. I want more days like this, when the ground was packed, whenboisterous supportersmixed on unsegregated terracing and Pars fans, with good reason,anticipated victory over the Old Firm. Pars line-up:

Celtic lined up with: Fallon, Craig, Gemmill, Murdoch, McNeill, Clark, Johnstone, Hood, Wallace, Chalmers, Lennox.Nine Lisbon Lions on show, with both sides a bit light in midfield, Hughie Robertson and Bertie Auld beingabsent,Tommy Callaghanangling fora transfer. Thefirsthalf, Parsattacking the Town End, was a masterclass in bustling, bullying forward play by Barrie Mitchell from the moment he shouldered Gemmell aside to cross a beauty, low across thesix-yard box. No takers that time, but after brushing inside Gemmell and clipping a shot off the top of the bar the inevitable was only delayed, when Mitchell switched to the left flank,bundled past Craig, then set up Gardner in front of goal. 1-0 the Pars after 10 minutes.

DAFC team photo from 1969

Suddenly a punch up between Wallace and Renton, near the touchline, with quite a fewblows landing and the referee pointing both towards the pavilion. Now it was 10 v 10,tension in the North Enclosure, jostling and goading amongst the pockets of rival fans,Bovril splashed, nervy Special Constables moving in to earn their stripes. Gardner droppeddeeper to support Paton and Edwards in midfield, then emerged in the 20th minute to doublethe Pars’ lead. A high, wedged clearance from Barry caught Clark back- pedalling in theCeltic penalty area, where he made a pig’s ear of the header, miscuing the ball across the boxwhere Gardner, Craig and Fallon all converged before the ball trundled in off a post. 2-0.Celtic struggled to respond, Edwards controlling play alongside Paton, both relishing theextra space available. Another flashpoint: Chalmers, obstructing keeper Duff from taking hisfour steps, had the ball rammed in his face and collapsed theatrically near the bye line. PlayOn said the referee as Duff kicked clear. Just as the forward was getting back to his knees, aCeltic attack was intercepted by Willie Callaghan who, with the whole of the touchline toaim for, deliberately aimed a lusty clearance straight off the face of Chalmers and out for abye-kick. Right aff the puss. Well done Willie, as Chalmers was floored for a second time. Before half time George McLean brought the whole crowd to its feet. ‘Dandy’ Mclean was aplayboy footballer who might have been happier hanging around the Barrowland Ballroomeyeing up the burdz. He was a tall, confident dude with fancy footwork and a quick movertoo, so might have scored a few times, although to be fair his goal tally over the years withSt. Mirren, Rangers and Dundee was pretty impressive too. His goals came from sporadicflashes of inspiration, for Dandy was no team player, in fact he had perfected a technique foravoiding tackles. Loitering up front, when the ball arrived he would move towards it, sell adummy, then try to nutmeg the defender on the turn.

3 players from the team that defeated Celtic: George McLean, John McGarty and Willie Renton

But McLean could loiter with intent. He’d just missed out making it 3-0 from a disguisedEdwards reverse pass, when a bouncing ball came his way inside the centre circle. In aninstant he flicked it not only over his own head, but crucially that of Billy McNeill, turningto knee the ball forward into his path. He now had a clear run on goal and, in truth, nothingcompares with the elemental thrill of the chase, a chase Mclean looked like he might win. Asthe pack closed on him at the edge of the penalty box and the crowd noise verged ondelirium, McLean, perverse as ever, opted for a chip on the run, probably the hardest skill inthe game. Yet he was only a fraction out, the ball dropping on to the roof of the net withFallon helpless. What a moment that was, only taking a few seconds to unfold, but living solong in the memory.The second half was all Celtic, a team who had recovered from 4-2 down at East End acouple of seasons before, so they would have fancied their chances. Gemmell thrashedhome a blur of a shot from 25 yards, possibly the most powerful shot ever seen at East EndPark, and the supporters in green nearly lifted the roof off the enclosure, sensing anotherfamous comeback.

George McLean in action for Dunfermline at Cowdenbeath

​It never materialized. Barry was a colossus, choking the life out every attack, rising, armacross the chest of his opponent, bulleting headers away from danger. Even in his finermoments an air of menace andillegalityalwayshoveredaroundBarry. Jim Fraserandpreviously Jim McLean defended in the manner of uniformed policemen dealing with afracas at closing time; Barry’s style was more that of a bouncer slinging a drunk down thesteps of a dance hall. This explains part of his enduring popularity amongst Pars fans, foralthough we feared that these Old Firm wide boys with their cheap, weegie tricks, dodgesand fly moves might put one over on us provincials, in Roy Barry we knew we had a manwho could match them and more.After a trademark block, Barry was laid low on the bye-line, giving Jimmy Johnstone theopportunity, while trailing the ball over to take the corner kick, to tramp sneakily on his chest. More uproar on the terracing. It mattered none. Barry was soon back on his feet rallying the troops, the Pars even managing a few breakaways late on courtesy of McLean tormenting Craig with his dummy+nutmeg routine. 2-1 to the Pars it finished.What we did not know, was that the 1960s were finishing too. Autumn 1969 was a pivotalmoment. Armstrong had walked on the moon, Woodstock had just ended, Manson was on hiswarped hippie mission in California, the British Army had entered the streets of Belfast, TheBeatles were cutting their last LP. Optimism was in retreat. Barry never played for the Parsagain, nor did Bert Paton following his leg break in December. After Anderlecht in January the team suddenly looked middle-aged. We hadn’t brought through a youngster since Steinleft in 1964.The sixties had seen Stein at his zenith, but he would never enjoy the same authority again.Within a year his Celtic team would lose three consecutive cup finals, including a EuropeanFinal to Feynoord, and although he was still developing young players, Stein’s teams never had the same edge to them. For DAFC it was a precipitous decline. One month after thisvictory Dunfermline sat at the top of the league: one year later Dunfermline were rock bottom of that same 18 team league. We had sacked Manager Farm, and were not to win a single game until Christmas Week.The sixties were over.